So I just bought this. Don't laugh! Update: not gonna happen :(

C

Chris_D

Elite
 Mostly Holland. Sometimes UK.
Been looking for an interesting 'project car' to work on and after considering a couple of options settled on this MY'87 Lotus Excel SE.
It's not Lotus' finest hour by any margin but it's in totally original condition - translate as 'lots of work to be done' :D
Full and comprehensive service history and everything on it works!
Light as a feather and after numerous test drives felt like it was still well-balanced and a lot of fun.
The thing that sealed the deal was me offering half what the dealer was asking and him saying 'ok'. loooolz. It was peanuts to begin with and then I got it for less!
It's a UK car originally but now registered/domained in NL.
First things to go are those nasty gold wheels. Not sure if I'll refurb them back to original magnesium polished base or simply Plastidip them for the time being.
Engine is leak-free and chassis/body is nice and clean, dry, rust-free but all the rubbers will need replacing, esp the ARB bushes as theyre shot to pieces. It might also need a new exhaust from the cat back.
It's got a lovely walnut dash and gear knob. Hands Fred a kleenex. But it has cloth seats which is unfortunate. The uprated SE engine makes up for that tho.
Shame it doesnt have the factory sunroof option but then on the other hand it's considered a leaky water-ingress source. Silver linings.
Watch this space.....
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Chris_D said:
Been looking for an interesting 'project car' to work on and after considering a couple of options settled on this MY'87 Lotus Excel SE.
It's not Lotus' finest hour by any margin but it's in totally original condition - translate as 'lots of work to be done' :D
Full and comprehensive service history and everything on it works!

IMG_20190518_161227.jpg
IMG_20190518_161213.jpg
IMG_20190518_161141.jpg
IMG_20190518_161009.jpg
IMG_20190518_161005.jpg
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Bollocks " everything works" its a Lotus :poke:
Nice dash....Where are the tissues :P
 
Very. 8) :thumbsup:

Is that an SE? Pretty rare, especially in that condition. :)

Fibre glass body for lightness and a tree on the dash. :lol: Got to love the 80s :wink:
 
buzyg said:
Very. 8) :thumbsup:

Is that an SE? Pretty rare, especially in that condition. :)

Fibre glass body for lightness and a tree on the dash. :lol: Got to love the 80s :wink:
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Well spotted busylar! Yep its an SE so it has the uprated 180 bhp engine.
Its an 87my so it doesnt have the chassis upgrades which came a year later but I can always retrofit some of them if needed. First would be the cross braces as it does actually feel a bit wobbly in the bends.
 
Love it. Just reading some reviews - looks like a classic, tbh. Light, decent engine, proper 80s looks (same guy that designed the look of the McLaren F1, even!). Good choice. :thumbsup:
 
I miss mine! I had a ‘90 SE with full leather - bought with 50k on the clock and sold with 165k, still running sweetly with compressions all even and over 200psi. At one point I was commuting 140 miles a day in it. Great car for eating the miles but also a lot of fun in the twisty bits - awesome steering feel! The engine needs some revs to get going but pulls nicely to 7k once you get above about 4K!

The best mod I did to it was fit 17” wheels so that the front brakes could be upgraded from 260x22 to 325x25 (modded mg ZT 190 discs - cheap as chips) with hi spec 4 pot callipers...

Lotusexcel.net is a great forum!
 
And no, there’s no cat fitted to them, just a middle box and two rear silencers ... oh a pair of lovely dellorto 45DHLA’s ...
 
Smartbear said:
Interesting, has it really got a cat fitted at that year? :?
Rob
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There's something that at least looks like a cat halfway down. Then there's a load of exhaust tape and sealant and from that point back it doesnt look so healthy. Might straightpipe it.
 
Steve67 said:
I miss mine! I had a ‘90 SE with full leather - bought with 50k on the clock and sold with 165k, still running sweetly with compressions all even and over 200psi. At one point I was commuting 140 miles a day in it. Great car for eating the miles but also a lot of fun in the twisty bits - awesome steering feel! The engine needs some revs to get going but pulls nicely to 7k once you get above about 4K!

The best mod I did to it was fit 17” wheels so that the front brakes could be upgraded from 260x22 to 325x25 (modded mg ZT 190 discs - cheap as chips) with hi spec 4 pot callipers...

Lotusexcel.net is a great forum!
Click to expand...
Steve67 said:
And no, there’s no cat fitted to them, just a middle box and two rear silencers ... oh a pair of lovely dellorto 45DHLA’s ...
Click to expand...

Great to hear Steve.
Was all over that forum for research. It's where I found out about the weird green cam filter. Sort of a CCV system for the Excel.
Must be the middle box and not a cat I'm seeing then.
Did you have any overheating issues? I've had it out for 2 test runs. On the second run I was let loose on my own and it started to go a bit warm so eased back off the revs and nursed it back to the dealer.
He's going to give it a coolant flush/renewal and check the pump and stat.
Final shakedown will be next weekend after they've done an oil-change and general service after I suggested they should really get it into some form of 'sellable' shape as it's been standing for so long (only driven 500 miles in the last 5 years!!). see pic.
The brakes were shall we say 'lively' under hard braking, so they're going to balance them and swap in some new pads. The tyres are also very old but with a decent amount of tread but they felt squishy.
The aircon works but it was feeble at best so a re-gas will also be part of the refresh by the dealer. Was happy it was actually working tbh.
Any other reccommendations, things to look out for from your perspective?
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Seats look in great condition so being cloth was probably a blessing as Lotus leather seats from that era , well the ones I’ve seen at least ,tend to look well used. Great project and I kinda like the wheels as it looks period to me.
 
Very 80s - it looks great (well maybe apart from those gold wheels). :thumbsup:
 
This is of interest to me as I was working at Lotus around that time! I probably handled parts of it, I might have done final inspection on it. I might have even driven or passengered in it around the test track (they were all tested on the track before being signed off).
 
Chris_D said:
Steve67 said:
I miss mine! I had a ‘90 SE with full leather - bought with 50k on the clock and sold with 165k, still running sweetly with compressions all even and over 200psi. At one point I was commuting 140 miles a day in it. Great car for eating the miles but also a lot of fun in the twisty bits - awesome steering feel! The engine needs some revs to get going but pulls nicely to 7k once you get above about 4K!

The best mod I did to it was fit 17” wheels so that the front brakes could be upgraded from 260x22 to 325x25 (modded mg ZT 190 discs - cheap as chips) with hi spec 4 pot callipers...

Lotusexcel.net is a great forum!
Click to expand...
Steve67 said:
And no, there’s no cat fitted to them, just a middle box and two rear silencers ... oh a pair of lovely dellorto 45DHLA’s ...
Click to expand...

Great to hear Steve.
Was all over that forum for research. It's where I found out about the weird green cam filter. Sort of a CCV system for the Excel.
Must be the middle box and not a cat I'm seeing then.
Did you have any overheating issues? I've had it out for 2 test runs. On the second run I was let loose on my own and it started to go a bit warm so eased back off the revs and nursed it back to the dealer.
He's going to give it a coolant flush/renewal and check the pump and stat.
Final shakedown will be next weekend after they've done an oil-change and general service after I suggested they should really get it into some form of 'sellable' shape as it's been standing for so long (only driven 500 miles in the last 5 years!!). see pic.
The brakes were shall we say 'lively' under hard braking, so they're going to balance them and swap in some new pads. The tyres are also very old but with a decent amount of tread but they felt squishy.
The aircon works but it was feeble at best so a re-gas will also be part of the refresh by the dealer. Was happy it was actually working tbh.
Any other reccommendations, things to look out for from your perspective?
IMG_20190518_155805.jpg
Click to expand...

The time mine started to get warm was when the otter (fan) switch only started to fail ... the fan would normally start at exactly 92 degrees on my gauge and cut out at 87. If there was a slight buzz from the relay as the fan started, that was a hint that the otter switch was starting to fail! I never had any overheating problems at speed, including track days. I found the thermostats tended to fail on the cold side and open early - temp gauge on a cruise on mine was bang on 82 deg.

The aircon was awesome on mine when filled with good old R12 - some days, it was so cold you’d get freezing fog out of the vents! It wasn’t quite so extreme on the eco R12 replacement (can’t remember the R number, not the same as modern cars!), but was still good! I found the a/c compressor took a fair chunk of power so left it switched off most of the time!

MOT time was generally ok, sometimes the carbs idle mix screws needed a 1/4 or 1/2 a turn in to get the target CO but go too far and the HC went high ... as soon as it passed, turn the screws back out so it runs smoothly!

Oh and keep a check on the condition of the cam belt pulleys - after about 100-110k my crank pulley developed sharp edges and started chewing the belt - luckily I spotted that before disaster struck!

The brakes came from the supra 2.8i and were also used on the Esprit SE turbo with 264bhp - even with calliper rebuilds and various different pads I always felt they were the weak point. Luckily the handling meant you didn’t need to use them much!

Overall, I loved that car and kept it 17 years! Feel free to PM me any questions!

Enjoy!
 
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